Lawmakersneed to endbudget mess

Finally, someone in Springfield has the political spine to be straight-forward about how serious the budget mess in Illinois has become.

State Comptroller Leslie Munger avoided the over-abundant hyperbole and the passive-aggressive blame and instead laid out the facts:

If lawmakers don’t come to grips with a budget, payments to state workers, Medicaid providers and other contractors will stop July 1.

That would mean an estimated 51,000 employees expecting a paycheck on July 15 will find themselves empty-pocketed.

As a constant stream of “urgent” news releases suggests others would see an impact also immediately: Social service agencies, programs for the elderly and blind, hospitals, state vendors.

If the showdown lingers, next up would be schools. They are scheduled to receive General State Aid payments Aug. 10 — but not without a budget in place.

Munger was appointed to fill a vacancy created by the death of Judy Baar Topinka, and must have been channeling some of Topinka’s no-nonsense brass.

“I am here as the state’s chief fiscal officer to urge the General Assembly to avoid causing this unnecessary hardship and work with the governor to pass a balanced budget,” Munger said. “I am here to remind all involved that this isn’t a game to be won or lost — their rhetoric, posturing and decisions have grave implications on people and communities across the state.”

The problem is, the budget has become a game. It’s an elementary school-yard round of dodgeball where sportsmanship is less the objective than domination.

Political pundits see that as unlikely to change under the existing political power structure of House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, whose alliance of arrogance has brought refusal to even feign compromise with Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.

They believe what is necessary for the future of Illinois is more taxes and more spending beyond revenue. Given that hasn’t worked for decades now, you would think the power duo would be willing to listen to alternatives. Those alternatives, though, aren’t pretty and voter-appealing.

More and more, they seem to be the desire of the average voter, though. Most Illinoisans are fed up with the burden of taxes with the promise it will pull the Land of Lincoln out of the fiscal abyss only to find it doesn’t even skim the surface.

Why? Because — as a majority of voters surely recognize by now — the state’s problems are not because of revenue. They are because of years and years of spending without boundaries.

Who is ultimately responsible for any real change?The numerous men and women who fill the offices in Springfield collectively known as the General Assembly. It is the job of these well-paid individuals to represent what the people who elect them to office believe should be done.

Those average voters lawmakers represent don’t care about lobbyists, they don’t worry about kow-towing to political party lines, and they don’t fret that standing their ground could lead to not being re-elected.